


Risk factor

by Charlotte_McGonagall



Category: Magic: The Gathering (Card Game)
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Appendicitis, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Ral being a stubborn idiot, Should probably be G rated but whatever, Sick Character, Sick Ral, Sickfic, rated T for like one swear word
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-19
Updated: 2021-01-19
Packaged: 2021-03-16 21:21:50
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,910
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28837731
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Charlotte_McGonagall/pseuds/Charlotte_McGonagall
Summary: College AU.Ral is not feeling well, but he refuses to rest or see a doctor until he’s finished an important assignment for professor Niv-Mizzet. Tomik is not happy about it, but Ral is not an easy person to take care of.
Relationships: Tomik Vrona/Ral Zarek
Comments: 11
Kudos: 15





	Risk factor

**Author's Note:**

> I originally wrote this fanfiction a few days ago for a challenge in an Italian facebook group for hurt/comfort lovers. The challenge was to write a hurt/comfort AU story with some prompts to choose from, and this is what came out of it.  
> Which means this story is actually a translation from Italian to English of the original work, so I apologise if the language and style is not very fluent, I usually prefer writing directly in English if I plan to publish in English, rather than writing in my first language and then translating. Feel free to point out any mistakes I might have missed.  
> In retrospect, it also looks a bit rushed, but since it was for a quick challenge I only had two days to write it and I still thought it was nice enough to publish.  
> This is also my first ff in this fandom, I am quite new to MtG lore.  
> Hope you like this.

Tomik reached in the darkness for his alarm clock and glasses.  
He searched for Ral at his side, but his boyfriend wasn’t in bed.

The smell of coffee and the sound of furious keyboard tapping coming from the kitchen told him everything he needed to know.  
With a sigh that turned into a yawn, Tomik kicked the blankets away and reached the other room, hoping Ral had left some coffee for him.  
Just as he thought, Ral Zarek was exactly where he’d last seen him the night before: sitting at the table, surrounded by piles of books and notes, the ever-present mug of coffee at the side of his laptop.

“Please,” said Tomik, somehow resigned, as he poured his own cup of coffee, “tell me you got at least a bit of sleep at some point”.  
Ral seemed to notice him for the first time.  
“Yes, Tomik, I did sleep _at some point_ ,” Ral replied, in a condescending tone. “I woke up earlier and I couldn’t get back to sleep, so I decided to make the best of it and keep working on my project”.  
“How’s it going?”  
“I’ve been through worse. Deadline’s on Monday, so I have the weekend to work on it, I should be able to make it.” Ral ran a hand through his hair nervously. “I _have_ to make it. I wish I didn’t have classes this morning”.  
Tomik shook his head; Ral Zarek was probably the most intelligent person he’d ever met, but his disorganisation was notoriously self-destructive and he was already visibly tired. If this was how he looked on Friday morning, Tomik could only begin to imagine what his state would be by Monday.  
“Do you really have to go?”  
Ral nodded. “I can’t skip Niv-Mizzet’s classes, we have lab practice”.  
“But he’s the one who gave you the assignment,” suggested Tomik, “surely he would understand-“.  
“He would understand I’m behind schedule,” Ral cut him off, “and I can’t allow it to happen”.  
“Sometimes you act like he could kill you,” said Tomik with a small laugh.  
Ral looked back at him, dead serious. “He could ruin my academic career, which would be a fate worse than death”.

Tomik leaned to press a kiss to Ral’s temple. As exasperated as he was with his boyfriend’s stubbornness and dramatic attitude, he understood and even admired his ambition. “Just try to take care of yourself”.  
Ral closed his eyes and relaxed against the kiss. “And why would I do that, since you do it so well for the both of us?”.  
Tomik slapped him on the shoulder and Ral laughed. 

Tomik failed to notice the wince of pain that accompanied Ral’s laugh.

***

While Tomik was getting dressed in the bedroom before classes, Ral frantically searched the medicine cabinet for a painkiller.  
As soon as he found what he was looking for, he swallowed the white pill with gratitude.

What he had told Tomik — that he’d woken up earlier and had been unable to go back to sleep — was true. The one detail he had deliberately omitted was he’d been awoken by a pretty annoying stomach ache, which not only still hadn’t subsided after a few hours, but was starting to get worse.

He sighed. He could not allow himself to be sick before Monday. And, most of all, he could not allow to let Tomik know before Monday. He had a project to finish.

***

Classes had been a living nightmare.

Once the painkillers had worn off, the pain had returned, this time accompanied by horrible waves of nausea. It was a miracle he hadn’t thrown up on the lab equipment – and not for lack of trying on the part of his stomach.

Returning to the small apartment had been a relief.  
He had hoped he’d be alone for a while, but Tomik was already back.  
Ral gave him a quick greeting and retreated into the privacy of the bedroom, with the excuse of changing into more comfortable clothes.  
He heard Tomik ask him something about lunch.  
“Not hungry,” he quickly replied.

He sat on the bed and closed his eyes, taking a deep breath, trying to impose the will of his mind upon his body.

_ You can’t get sick. You don’t have time to be sick. You have three days to turn in a project that is worth half of the grade from the harshest professor in the whole engineering department. You have to focus on that. You. Can’t. Get. Sick. _

He heard Tomik’s worried voice by the door. “Ral? Are you ok?”.

The negotiations between body and mind were failing miserably. The body gave an ultimatum and his mind was forced into compliance; Ral rushed past Tomik and into the bathroom, and vomited the entire content of his stomach.

Tomik hurried to his side and kneeled, gently stroking his back while Ral’s body spasmed a few more times.

Once he was finished, Ral sat back against the cool tiled wall, arms wrapped around his abdomen, unable to hide the grimace of pain as he moved. He felt Tomik’s hand on his forehead, cold to the touch.

Tomik frowned with apprehension. “Does it hurt a lot?”  
“Not much,” he lied. He cleared his aching throat. “And don’t look at me like that. I’m not on my deathbed, it’s probably something I’ve eaten or a stomach flu...”  
“Or maybe your body is trying to tell you that living exclusively off of takeaway food, coffee and three hours of sleep is not good for you,” Tomik jeered at him, his tone still affectionate behind the mockery.  
Ral replied with an annoyed snort and stood to rinse his mouth and face at the sink. He felt a bit better with an empty stomach and the cool water was helping too.

Tomik put a hand on his shoulder to get his attention.  
“Get some rest, ok?” he said. “I’ll make you some tea.”

***

In retrospect, Tomik should have known Ral’s concept of rest would be very different from what he had intended.

Tomik, naturally, meant “ _lie in bed, relax for once in your life and let me take care of you_ ”, while Ral had simply perched himself onto the sofa with a blanket and his laptop and had resumed his furious keyboard tapping.

At least he had managed to get Ral to stay still long enough to take his temperature, but, since it was not very high, Tomik was unable to force him into bedrest without sounding unreasonable (as if it was even possible to force Ral Zarek into anything).  
So the only things Tomik could do were bringing him some ginger tea for the nausea and a heating pad for the pain, and begging him to not cross his limits.

In retrospect, he shold have also known Ral had no real concept of his own limits or — if he had — he regarded them as mere suggestions.

In that afternoon only, Tomik had to stop him four times from having coffee. On his fifth trial, Ral had succeeded in making himself a cup of coffee while Tomik was in the shower, and even had the audacity to look offended when he had thrown up no more than five minutes later. At that point, Tomik was positive Ral’s genes had survived prehistoric times only thanks to some sort of miracle, because there was no doubt his ancestors were those brave souls who had sacrificed themselves discovering which plants were edible.

With no coffee in his system, weakened by pain and fever, and on a substantially empty stomach — Tomik had been unable to feed him more than a few crackers with some broth — maintaining concentration on his work was clearly draining a considerable amount of Ral’s energy, and he was growing increasingly tired and nervous.

***

It was Saturday morning when Tomik suggested to call a doctor for the first time.

Ral had insisted on sleeping on the couch, so he wouldn’t bother Tomik if he got up in the middle of the night nor pass him whatever awful virus he had. Tomik had tried suggesting he could sleep on the couch himself, but Ral said he wanted to be closer to the kitchen in case he needed anything, and Tomik couldn’t argue with that.

In the morning, he had found Ral in the middle of a fitful sleep, huddled into a foetal position and all but knotted into his blanked; he was pale and sweaty, dark circles under his eyes revealing how little he had actually slept.

So, obviously, Tomik had ventured Ral might need to be examined by a professional. Ral had vehemently refused.  
“I don’t have time.”  
“You can’t seriously be thinking to keep working like this!”  
“Don’t worry about me, I can make it.”  
“ _This_ is precisely the kind of sentence that makes worry about you,” replied Tomik. He threw his hands in the air in exasperation. “At least let me ask Liliana to check on you, she’s a medical student after all, it would be better than nothing.” Liliana was not exactly their friend, but she’d made her way into their circle of acquaintances because she spent a lot of time with another group of students who lived in the same apartment block as Ral and Tomik. “I could ask Lavinia if she’s at their place.”  
Ral looked outraged. “I wouldn’t trust Liliana Vess with a _corpse_ , let alone my living self.” He took Tomik’s hand. “You know how important this assignment is for me. As soon as it’s done, you can call a doctor, if it makes you feel better. Besides, I’m not that sick.”  
Tomik pursed his lips and sighed. “Fine, but if you get worse I’m getting you straight to the hospital.”

***

Saturday and most of Sunday went by without any significant event. Ral’s physical conditions seemed stable; he was still in pain and refusing food, but his temperature had never been higher than 38°C and Tomik had succeeded in keeping him hydrated and as well-rested as possible.

His mental conditions, regretfully, were not as stable, but it wasn’t unusual for Ral to become anxious and totally unbearable near an important deadline. Tomik was accustomed with his boyfriend cursing at his laptop screen, mumbling about concepts and calculations he’d never heard about in his life, nervously tugging at his messy hair.

To Tomik’s relief, by Sunday evening, Ral was feeling much better. The pain had subsided and Ral was confident that — after taking care of the project’s finishing touches and getting some sleep — he’d be able to go to class the following morning and give his presentation without any issue.

“I must admit,” conceded Tomik, “in the end it worked out”  
“As always,” Ral replied, with a cocky smile. “This is the power of mind over matter. It takes more than a silly flu to stop me.”

So, Tomik went to bed, as Ral worked on “ _the finishing touches_ ”, which by his standards meant he probably would not be asleep before 3 AM. 

***

A thud followed by swearing awoke Tomik in the middle of the night.  He rubbed his eyes in confusion.

“Tomik!” Ral’s voice was ridden with panic.  
Suddenly fully awake, Tomik put on his glasses and rushed to the other room.

Ral was curled up on the floor, lying on one side, shaking, arms tightly wrapped around his abdomen. A knocked over chair suggested he’d tried to lean on it before falling.His face was contorted into a grimace of pain, eyes closed and sweat rapidly beading his forehead.

Tomik kneeled by his side and put a hand on his cheek.  
“I’m here,” he said, his voice betraying more anxiety than he wished. “What happened?”  
It took Ral several moments to answer. “It hurts... so much...”. His voice was almost a whimper, as if even talking was painful to him.  
Tomik pushed back a wave of panic. “It’s going to be alright,” he said, both to Ral and himself, trying to hide the shaking in his voice, “I’ll call an ambulance”.

Tomik made the phone call in a state of near unconsciousness, as if a part of him had gone on autopilot, while the real him couldn’t do anything but stare at his boyfriend on the floor.  He rushed back to him as soon as the call was over.

It took twelve minutes for the ambulance to arrive. Tomik had kept count: _twelve painfully long minutes_.

Initially, he had tried to lay Ral on the couch, but he wouldn’t move, so Tomik had slid a pillow under his head and lain on the floor beside him, hugging him from behind, pressing his chest against the tightened muscles of his back, trying to calm him, whispering soothing words, hoping to get Ral’s fast and laboured breathing to match his own slower one.

He didn’t move until the paramedics arrived.

***

Later, Tomik would have trouble remembering details of the trip and arrival at the hospital. Instead, his memory would only hold fleeting impressions, like a weird dream after a few hours of wakefulness.

Someone had asked him questions about Ral’s symptoms — which he vaguely remembered answering — and Ral’s medical history — which he was unable to answer.

He remembered Ral being taken away for examination. He remembered a blue and green poster and grey chairs in the waiting room. He remembered a blonde doctor with a reassuring smile telling him Ral had a ruptured appendix and they were preparing him for surgery. He remembered saying that no, Ral had no family members to contact. He remembered feeling like an idiot for not thinking it could have been appendicitis, for not insisting to bring Ral to hospital when his instinct had told him to. He remembered someone — maybe the same blonde doctor — had offered him some tea from the vending machines. He remembered it tasted too sweet.

***

Ral woke up in the early hours of the morning and a pale light was filtering through the window.  His first instinct was to turn to one side and go back to sleep, but even attempting to move sent a stabbing pain in his lower abdomen and he realised something was attached to his arms.  
The events of the night flooded back into his memory. He opened his eyes and looked around, squinting as he grew accustomed to the light.

Tomik was sleeping in a chair by the hospital bed, his glasses were askew and he looked about to slip. Ral felt a deep wave of affection blossoming inside his chest.

Before he could get his attention, Tomik waved dangerously to the side and woke up with a startle.

“Morning,” said Ral, finding his voice too weak and sleepy for his liking.  
After a moment of confusion, Tomik’s face lit and the young man held his hand.  “Ral...”  
“I know,” he cut him off, “I’m an idiot, I’m sorry.”  
Tomik only hesitated for a moment before replying, “Yes, you are.”  
Ral smiled guiltily. “The risk I took was calculated, but apparently I’m not so good at math.”  
Tomik gave a snort that quickly turned into a perplexed frown. “ _Wait_... what do you mean?”  
Ral lowered his gaze. “Well, given my symptoms, I knew appendicitis was a possibility, but risk of rupture in the first 72 hours should not be over 5%. I was supposed to have the time to do my presentation and then I would have gone to the hospital.”

Tomik let go of his hand and adjusted his glasses, wide-eyed.  “You... _knew_?”  
“As I said, I wasn’t even 100% sure it was appendicitis, I had just considered the possibil-“  
Tomik removed his glasses, cupped his face in his hands and took a very deep breath, as if calling for patience.  “Ral Zarek, you really _are_ an idiot,” said Tomik, slowly articulating every word, “and a danger to yourself.”  
Ral blushed. “It seemed like a good idea three days ago. I’m sorry.”  
Tomik removed his hands from his eyes and leaned to kiss Ral’s forehead. “Ral, I love you, but you _literally_ gave yourself peritonitis to impress a professor.”  
Ral winced. “ _Fuck_ , Niv-Mizzet...”  
“I’ve already sent him an email,” Tomik cut him off, “and told him why you would be unable to attend class this morning. He asked me to let him know how your surgery went. See? Not even the strictest of professors would be that unreasonable in a situation like this.”

Ral was feeling more and more mortified. He reached again for Tomik’s hand. “I’m really sorry I got you worried.” He paused, trying to find the right words, unable to look Tomik in the eyes. “I’m just not used to having someone taking care of me... I’ve always had to manage on my own. I never had to stop to consider how the risks I take can affect someone I love. What you did for me last night — staying by my side, reassuring me — no one had ever done that for me.”

Ral heard the shuffling of a chair and, a moment later, Tomik was hugging him — or at least the closest he could get to hugging without hurting him. Ral felt the wet trace of a tear on Tomik’s cheek and wrapped his arms around him.

“Doctor Tandris said you’ll have to rest for weeks,” said Tomik, pulling back, “so you better get used to be taken care of, ok?”  
Ral cupped Tomik’s face and pulled him back for a kiss on the cheek.  
“Believe me," he said, "I’m looking forward to it.”

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading, I hope you enjoyed the story.  
> In case you are wondering what exactly happened to Ral, sometimes people initially feel better for a few hours after a ruptured appendix, because the pressure on the abdominal wall is relieved. Then the pain comes back as the infection spreads. This is why he felt better before it got worse. It didn't feel important to explain it in the story but since I did the research I might as well say it somewhere. XD


End file.
